The Fire Within
1/10/2016, 18:00, Odeon Opera 1 2/10/2016, 21:15, Odeon Opera 2
An alcoholic, self-destructive author wanders around Paris for a day, striving to reconnect with old flames, friends and acquaintances, and desperately trying to find a reason to stay alive. The first of the many masterpieces by Louis Malle is an unbearably melancholic, yet charming ballad for those who feel like they don’t belong anywhere. Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Alain, an alcoholic, self-destructive writer, is discharged from a clinic in Versailles having undergone treatment for his addiction. He is sober but reluctant to face the outside world. In the next 24 hours he wanders through Paris, trying to reconnect with old flames, friends, and acquaintances in an attempt to find a reason to live. However, they all appear to have settled down, renouncing their ?wild? past.
Drawing an implosive, anguished performance from Maurice Ronet (also starring in ?Elevator to the Gallows?), Louis Malle outlines with remarkable clarity and precision the portrait of a man in a stifling existential cul-de-sac within an alienating society. Cruel, unsparing but always compassionate, ?Le Feu Follet? is a sad but fascinating ballad for those who feel they don’t belong anywhere. This is one of Louis Malle’s darkest and most personal films, the first of many masterpieces in career.
Director: Louis Malle
Screenwriter: Louis Malle, Pierre Drieu de la Rochelle (novel)
DoP: Ghislain Cloquet
Editor: Suzanne Baron
Principal Cast: Maurice Ronet, Lena Skerla, Yvonne Clech
France | 1963 | B&W | DCP | 110' | French
